Perhaps the most difficult thing Jesus ever said for us to do is found in Matt. 5:38-48. It goes against human nature not to right the wrongs in our lives. So how do we not only not retaliate and get even? Better yet, how do we go the second mile and learn to love the unloveable?1. Matt. 5:38-42, Release instead of resist:Release your right to personal dignity (turn the other cheek).Release your right to cling to comforts (give them your coat).Release your right to privacy and a selfish schedule (go the second mile).Release your right to exclusive ownership.2. Matt. 5:43-48 Love instead of hateLearn that love does not seek vengeance.Learn to pray for those who abuse us.Learn that we should love our enemies because God loves them.

Dr. Bradley concludes his discussion of the meanings behind some of Jesus' hyperboles, or exaggerated speech not to be taken litterally, in the Sermon on the Mount.

Dr. Bradley continutes his discussion of the meanings behind some of Jesus' hyperboles, or exaggerated speech not to be taken litterally, in the Sermon on the Mount.

Dr. Bradley discusses the meanings behind some of Jesus' hyperboles, or exaggerated speech not to be taken litterally, in the Sermon on the Mount. Below are just a couple of examples:29 "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."Jesus used hyperboles in order to capture His audience's attention. What He is really saying in this passage is don't let anything or anybody cause you to go to hell. Be in control and be willing to get rid of whatever it is that is causing you to stubble.39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."Jesus is saying to swallow your pride when dealing with others and be a second-mile Christian. Don't just do the minimum requirements. He calls us to be different. Paul recognizes this in his letter to the Galatians: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20).

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter."What does it mean to reject Christ? The greatest sin is a final rejection of Jesus Christ because there is no hope, no one to turn to for salvation. It was predicted in Isaiah 53:3, "He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."John 1:11: "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him."We may not think that we are rejecting Christ when we say that we are believers. But it is so easy to let our jobs, family, and daily stresses get in the way of our relationship with the Lord. Some people can't find time to fit the Lord in their lives. Jesus clearly teaches in Matt. 6:24, "No one can serve two masters" and again in Matt. 12:30, "He who is not with Me is against Me." Who is the master of your life?

Join Dr. Bradley as he continues his discussion of the religious hypocrites, the Pharisees, and how we as Christians today are to be focused on the heart in living a Christian life rather than the outward appearance of following the law. Jesus warns us in Matt: 5:23 that,, "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven." He continues in Matt. 6:7 by referring to the Pharisees, "do not do as they did."

The multitiude was amazed at the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus taught not as the scribes but "as one as authority." Jesus understood the heart of men and addressed the sermon to the Pharisees. In Matt. 23 He gives seven woes that warn us not to act like the Pharisees. Jesus in Matt: 5:23 says, "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven." Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus is concerned about and loves lost people. "The son of man came to seek and save the lost. " The Pharisees prompted Jesus to preach his most powerful lesson in Luke 15 about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy to show these hypocrital Pharisees that although you claim to care about God, you don't care about lost people. Listen as Dr. Bradley discusses why the Pharisees, the religious leaders of His day, do not embody Christian living as Jesus prescribes.

How would you like to listen to a sermon on the topics of anger that leads to murder, lust that leads to adultery, divorce, retaliation, or loving your enemies? How about the golden rule? "Love your neighbor as yourself:" The audience in His day would ask, "I have to love a Roman soldier that asks me to take his pack for a mile? Plus I have to volunteer to take it for two miles?" The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest challenge for us today: Do we say the bar is set too high? Do we ignore it? Or do we recognize that it is part of our maturing to be more Christlike? The theme of the Sermon on the Mount is found in Matt. 5:20, "I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven."Listen as Dr. Bradley continues his discussion of this powerful sermon.

The Lord's first, longest, most powerful yet most misunderstood and least practiced sermon in the Bible: The Sermon on the Mount. Are the points of the sermon on the mount impossible to keep? Does the Lord intend for us to follow them? The sermon was very ani-cultural and politically incorrect then just as it is today. Yet the Lord did not offer blessings that could never be obtained. He has set the mark high but intends for us to reach for them daily as they change our lives.

A continuation of the discussion of Jesus as the beginning and the end as discussed in Revelation, standing outside the boundary of time.